Crews Near End of Joint Operations

(NASA) – The STS-126 and Expedition 18 crews spent their last full day together Wednesday.

The crew members’ work on the Regenerative Environmental Control and Life Support System (ECLSS) is going well. The Urine Processor Assembly (UPA) ran without problems Tuesday and processed around 65 pounds of distillate. The UPA was turned off, and mission managers do not plan to run it any longer during STS-126.

Image above: The station’s robotic arm, Canadarm2, carries the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module before placing it in the shuttle’s payload bay. Credit: NASA TV

Transfers from the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) and shuttle middeck to the space station totaled 16,390 pounds. The total from the station back to the MPLM and shuttle middeck is 3,642 pounds. Leonardo was placed back into Endeavour’s payload bay at 4:52 p.m. Wednesday.

Both crews on the shuttle/station complex will have time off on Thursday to spend the first part of the day as a team and enjoy Thanksgiving.

The crews will bid one another farewell Thursday afternoon. Endeavour is scheduled to undock from the International Space Station Friday.

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